Dense breasts are normal and are not caused by illness. All breasts are made of fat, and milk ducts/milk glands held together by fibrous tissue. The glands and fibrous tissue (or “fibroglandular” tissue) are referred to as “dense tissue”.
Each woman’s breasts are different and contain their own mix of fatty and dense tissue. Some women have breasts made of mostly fatty tissue. Some women have breasts with a lot of dense tissue. The more glands and fibrous tissue that a woman has, the “denser” her breast tissue is.
How can I tell if I have dense breasts?
The radiologist (the doctor who looks at your mammogram) can tell how dense your breasts are by how they look on your mammogram. You cannot tell if you have dense breasts by the way your breasts look or feel.
See Patient Education Video, “What is Breast Density?”
Learn More:
- 5 Facts Every Woman Should Know
- Video Series: Let’s Talk About Dense Breasts
- Patient Risk Checklist (print)
- Patient Questions and Answers